Story courtesy www.about.com 
The Guelph Tornado
July 17, 2000
  
Click Here to read about another Guelph Tornado in 1829
Click Here to go direct to the pictures from Tom and Barbara Mahoney

On Monday, July 17, 2000, twenty-four or twenty-five teenagers were attending a Bible study in Arkell Road Bible Chapel, Guelph when it hit. The first indication of something peculiar was a Styrofoam cup coming through the open window. Then they saw several items swirling around outside. One of the girls went to the vestibule in time to see the black twister coming toward the church. She was joined by another girl and just before the critical moment one of the leaders saw them standing there and grabbed them and dragged them into the main building and within a second or two, the vestibule was gone completely and all of its contents with it.

Thirteen of the teenagers had quickly crammed into the small one-person washroom and the fellows remained in another location. Some thought that it sounded like a freight train rolling by on the local track, except that the railroad is too far away to be able to hear locomotives.

Within seconds it hit and hit hard and in addition to tearing away the vestibule, windows were shattered and the roof was damaged. Outside, trees were broken and uprooted as if they were toothpicks. Neighbouring houses were damaged too. One house in a near by subdivision lost its siding, another had a dislodged tree "growing" out of the swimming pool.

All agreed that they had had no time to think about what to do at that crucial moment. Within the space of about one minute, roofs were torn away, garage doors ripped from their tracks, brickwork lay on the ground that was once a wall. Car windows were smashed and hundreds of trees were uprooted. Debris, lawn chairs, fences, propane barbecues were found everywhere but in their correct places.

Some residents in the Hamilton Corner district had just been discussing the terrible tornado of a few days before in the Red Deer, Alberta area wondering what they would have done in such a situation and within minutes, they found out. Happily, in contrast to the Alberta tornado where eleven deaths occurred, there were no injuries in this tornado that hit the southern area of this city of Guelph.

On Tuesday, it was confirmed by Environment Canada that this had indeed been an F2 twister and they say that it is a common occurrence in this area-more common than the general public is aware. Ontario's tornado alley extends in a wedge shape from Windsor to Barrie and Hamilton. Many tornados lasting for only seconds occur over farmers' fields and for the most part are unseen and unreported.

Certainly, we would expect that the couple of dozen teenagers were frightened and unnerved being in this church when the devastating tornado struck but where were the most of them the next day? They could be found helping with the cleanup and working very hard with chainsaws, rakes, and brooms. Glass was everywhere in the church nursery and the toys and shelves in this area were covered with splinters of this. Carpet had to be pulled out and replaced so as to be safe for the babies coming to the meetings the past weekend.

In a situation like this, it is an amazing thing to find out just who helps. Personnel manning a mobile Salvation Army van supplied food to volunteers. There was ample for all and their heart-warming smiles were reassuring to the many tired and sweaty hard working volunteers. A sign on the van was noticed that a local garage was offering free chain saw oil and fuel.

It has been estimated that at least forty-seven homes were damaged and hundreds of trees broken down by this powerful storm. The residents of the south end of Guelph will not soon forget the evening that the tornado hit nor will they forget the kindness and generosity of all those people and organizations who volunteered their time and resources to help. Several of the young people who had been in Arkell Road Bible Chapel on Monday night for their Bible study were heard to say that they were thankful to Almighty God that no one was injured or killed.

PHOTOS

Here are some video captures from Tom and Barbara Mahoney of the recent Tornado that touched down in  S.E Guelph, Ontario.   As of press time, no word on if any Radio Amateurs were effected.

Thanks to John VE3AMZ for forwarding same to KWARC.

Click Here to read about another Guelph Tornado in 1829